“I’ve just done two 29 hour days with 5 hours off between them…. it’s the only way to make money in this game”.

These words escaped the mouth of a relief driver I spoke to recently.

My intention in this article was to describe the benefits of sharing business goals with your staff so they can make sure that they are pulling in the same direction as you.

The conversations above, and many I have had along a similar line, show how easy it is to have the message mis-interpreted.

WANT TO KEEP WHEELS TURNING?

GPS is not put in to spy on your drivers; it is put in to ensure that the expensive equipment, which is the foundation of your business, is at maximum utilisation.

Sometimes the driver can influence this directly by reducing idling or speeding. Sometimes he can help indirectly by encouraging a supplier to be better prepared to receive a delivery and hence speed up turnaround times.

If you don’t tell the driver the effect which he can have on company productivity by making these small contributions, he won’t know that they are important to you.

GPS is about facts, so you can better understand what is going on in your business and have something to show your staff so they can see it too.

One thing is for sure – without GPS you are reliant on word of mouth and intuition to work out how to make fleet activity more efficient.

GET THE DRIVERS INVOLVED

Over the last few months we have had some really good results, working alongside customers and their GPS suppliers to develop driver specific reports.

The first stage is to design reports that are “driver friendly”

  • Easy to read
  • Specific to the driver and his vehicle
  • Cover only the stats you want your driver to prioritise
  • Include relevant feedback for the driver

We have taken a combination of fuel, GPS reports and Drivecam reports to create customised reports for customers which help each manager to provide feedback to their drivers, specifically around that company’s own priorities, whether that is fuel efficiency, overall driving compliance or vehicle productivity.

TALKING THE TALK

Sticking the report on the peg for the drivers with no briefing, is about as effective as installing GPS without explaining why.

We have developed a communication tool which our customers receive as a basis for helping the drivers get the message – in the right way and to avoid the unintended consequences of a poorly worded message about company revenue/costs being related to driver job stability. Of course they are, but there are ways of saying it.

REAPING THE BENEFIT

Results are slippery things. How should you measure them?

Fuel efficiency at one customer, on face value, has remained constant when the goal was to reduce it. Digging deeper, the volumes (and weight carried) has noticeably increased over the same period. Would you be pleased to note that loadings had increased but your fuel bill didn’t budge an inch? This company were, but they kept going and as the project has progressed, the team has now delivered more than 10% improvement in fuel consumption across the fleet in spite of the increased vehicle loadings. A real result and they aren’t stopping there!

The number of jobs completed per hour is a key measure at another customer. An 11.5% improvement has been achieved. A glass ceiling appeared to have been reached at 11.5%, but only because the jobs could now be re-organised to achieve more, so fewer vehicles were required overall – a real result for the customer which wasn’t initially expected.

Productivity and efficiency projects cannot be a one person crusade – use the best tools for the job and surround yourself with a team who will support the project through thick and thin.